All fall down
by archy the cockroach
Summary: scare tactics usually work. slashhetero . slightly AU . ongoing . spoilers [disturbing content. viewer discretion is advised.] UPLOADED :: 03
1. fairy tale ending

All Fall Down

(by archy the cockroach)

Rating: T

Warnings: Slash, a little bit of language, spoilers

**00: Kagura

* * *

**

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Kagura stands inside of Shigure's house, eyes wide and hiding no emotions. All her lips seem to do is shake. In fact, her body is shaking like gelatin, jiggling and wavering. She can barely breathe; her chest feels compressed and doesn't want to move.

She knew it would happen eventually. That Kyou would have to go and leave her so alone alone alone. But she didn't actually realize it would happen, or what would happen to her when it happened. Her cat didn't even fight, protest or anything as Akito dragged him off. Tohru wears the same expression as she does.

But the difference is, Tohru doesn't know.

Or didn't, at least.

Yuki finally figures it out though. Or rather, Akito tells him why her Kyou had to go away. All Yuki can think about is that winners can often feel like they're losers after all. Kyou was the loser, but he feels worse.

They left twenty minutes ago. Now Tohru starts to cry. She slumps over at the table, sobbing into her arms. Shigure tries to comfort her, but his eyes are somewhat sad. They all knew this would happen. And they did nothing to stop him.

Haru's there too; hiding in the corner, avoiding everyone. He almost looks like he's about to go Black. But nobody can tell. His eyes are overcast. Haru came over after Kagura. It was Kyou's birthday yesterday. Kagura was happy. But then she remembered.

Kyou had to go away.

Yuki looks sad too, she notices. Kagura's trying not to cry. But it's so hard, with Tohru and what not. She knew that Tohru was probably in love with Kyou. That's why she tries (tried) so hard to keep her cat close to her.

But she knows he would never love her, in the end. In fact, after Kagura confessed about forcing herself to love Kyou (because she was so scared scared scared), Kyou rejected her. He said himself he'd never love her. She cried for weeks.

"On the bright side… no one can wreck the house anymore…" says Shigure, trying to lighten the mood. His smile is forced though, and his eyes make him look a thousand years old.

Tohru cries harder.

Kagura remembers the days when she was a princess and Kyou was her knight. When she was Rapunzel and she was in a fairy tale. Of course, they were just little kids playing in a field and Kyou still liked her then. That was before she saw what he was and ran away crying. She would always play a 'damsel in distress' and Kyou (short and unable to pronounce some words) would come to her rescue with a stick as a sword and fight off the cat ('It's chust a kyiity!' 'Noit'snot, it's a DWAGON!') and they would ride off onto the sunset on the dog ('STEED!).

Haru exits (read: storms out of) Shigure's house. He's still Black. He looks like he might try to chase after Akito. Kagura doesn't know why. Haru doesn't even like Kyou.

Kagura sits (read: falls) down onto the floor, blinking back tears. She hugs her knees to herself. This is not happening. Kyou is still here, sitting beside you Kagura. You're OK. All that matters is you love him, and he's (not) OK, and you're OK.

"Stop living in fantasy, Kagura," she reminds herself. Shigure and Yuki look over at her for a moment before trying to comfort the openly sobbing Tohru again. Kagura cries softly into her knees. She doesn't care. She misses her Kyou.

"Shi-Shigure-san?"

"Hm… yes, Tohru-kun?" responds the writer. Tohru's voice is barely understandable due to her sniffling. She hyperventilates several times before speaking again.

"A-Are we al-aloud to vis-visit Kyou-ku-kun?" she stutters out. Shigure thinks this over for a few minutes. Kagura is barely paying attention. She can't bear the thought of losing her Kyou forever; never seeing him again. Never ever ever ever.

"I don't know, Tohru-kun," says the writer, giving her a painful look. He usually lies and twists his emotions, he's never sincere, but over the past couple years he's grown fond of his housemates. He can't help but feel some sort of loss.

Yuki still looks sad. Since when did he start caring about the cat? He doesn't care too much, Kagura surmises. He just wants Tohru to be happy. She'll be sad if Kyou is gone. But maybe, somewhere deep in the deepest, darkest corner of the Ice Prince's heart, maybe he cares (just a little bit) for the cat.

"Stupid cat, he should have run…" mutters Yuki, and only Kagura can (read: wants to) hear. Perhaps, Tohru and Shigure hear, but they just blank it out. They know he should've. But he didn't. And nobody knows why the cat didn't run. Perhaps he was just too timid. Or maybe he was afraid of the big, bad monster that was going to lock him in the itty bitty, cold and dreary 'house' that's more like a cage.

But in truth, they're all in the cage; the Sohma cage. Akito wants to get rid of the birds, because they're free. Birdies should be in cages. Not people.

Kagura's nails dig into her thighs. No, this is all imaginary. You're back in the field, playing with your Kyou. Everything is still OK. Don't take off his beads, don't don't don't! Don't run away.

_I'm so sorry._

Kagura lifts her head up off her knees. Her mind is now blank. Shigure is now ushering Tohru off to bed. She needs to sleep. Yuki leaves too.

"Kagura-chan… are you going to stay the night? Where would you like to sleep?" asks Shigure. Kagura nods.

"I'll go to bed later… in the spare room. Thank you." The spare room is (read: was) Kyou's room. Kagura doesn't go to sleep tonight. She knows everyone else is (read: is trying to) sleep. Her head hurts. She wants to forget, but she only thinks one thing:

What happened to her fairy tale ending?

* * *

01 will be up soon. i promise i'll give you all a better idea of what's going on. (this is just the prolouge.)

random jibbering: i just watched 'not another teen movie'. stupid as hell. XD it was quite funny at parts though. ohyeah, and this girl got 'american mcgee's: alice' too. happy happy. m00f. and i'm not sure for pairings in this story at this point. but they'll be rare pairings, as in;

hatori/kyou. that'd be weird, but i like the idea. i have a good idea.

oh well. tell me what pairings you want it to be. the only ones i won't do are kyou/tohru's basically.

till next time,

archy


	2. ashes, ashes

All Fall Down

(By archy the cockroach)

Rating: T

Warnings: Slash, a little bit of language, spoilers

* * *

**01: Hatori**

Three long months have passed and Kagura hasn't stopped crying.

She still stares at the pictures of her beloved. She's thin, tired, with ragged hair and dead eyes. She spends every day at Shigure's house, sitting in his room or looking at a picture of him as a child. She smiles all the time though, to cover everything up. But everybody knows she's faking as she tries to restrain her tears. She's everything Tohru's trying not to be; happy, clingy and _empty_.

Hatori has to check up on the girl. She hasn't been eating. He's going to Shigure's, where Kagura stays (read: lives in) Kyou's old room. She rarely comes out, in fact.

Hatori places his stethoscope in his bag and closes it up. Now, to get to his car and try to stay awake long enough to get to Shigure's house. Hatori was unbelievably tired. Akito had gotten sicker since Kyou went into the cage. The god was coughing up blood constantly, and thus keeping the doctor at his beck and call 24/7. As if he wasn't before.

Hatori's always been under Akito's thumb.

The doctor steps out of his house and trudges his way to the car. It's springtime. The cherry blossoms and bright sky don't suit his mood. It's too happy. And the children playing jump rope in the garden don't help at all.

"Ring around the rosey, pocket full of Posey!" the small children sing, a tiny girl with pigtails bouncing in the center with each _fwip_ of the rope.

Hatori stopped his own personal thunderstorm to listen and watch the Sohma children from outside of the zodiac knowledge play. They seem so happy to him. It's… depressing.

"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" The girls giggle after they finish their little song.

'How appropriate,' Hatori thinks numbly. Things were seemingly worse for the zodiac lately. Akito was sicker than usual, Kyou was in his cage, Kagura was clinically depressed, and his self was overworked and tired. Everyone was just… tired.

To stop himself from falling asleep on the spot, Hatori gets in his car and drives (read: tries to drive) to Shigure's house.

"Oh, Haa-san, how nice to see you…" Shigure greets Hatori at the door, looking just as tired as the doctor does. His eyes lack their usual mischievous glimmer, and his smile is more forced than usual. He smells like cigarettes, too.

"Is Kagura here?"

"Where else would she be?"

"The question is, where else would she want to be?" says Hatori, making his way up the stairs. Shigure doesn't even follow him. He just goes back into his study to presumably smoke more.

Hatori follows his ears to Kyou's (read: Kagura's) room. He could hear her whimpering. He knocked softly on the door before entering. Kagura can be heard sniffling before she pads her way over to the door and slides it open. "Oh… Hatori-san."

"Kagura. May I come in?" asks the doctor. The girl nods meekly before letting her older cousin into her room. It looks exactly like it was when Kyou lived in it, but Hatori doesn't know that as he's never been in Kyou's room.

There's an awkward pause before anyone speaks. "So… Kagura-san, how have you been… taking the separation?" Hatori speaks so clinically, every word calculated. It's almost as if he's speaking to a woman he barely knows instead of his little cousin. He even calls her _san_.

"Can't you tell?" Kagura says, looking up at him with her puffy red eyes. There are tear tracks down her cheeks. "I want… no, I need to see him. I need to see Kyou. Can… can I see him, please?" Kagura's almost begging. She doesn't care if she has to beg. She has to see her love.

Hatori answers with the only truth he knows. "I don't know if you can. I suppose I could (or maybe Shigure) could talk to Akito about it." He doubts Akito will say yes though. The only people aloud to see Kyou are Akito and himself. They need Kyou to stay alive, so they send the doctor to check on the cat. Akito wouldn't dare let him die; that would be murder.

As if their god would care. It's just the cat, after all.

"Please. If you can," says Kagura, tears threatening to fall once again. Hatori just nods. Kagura closes the door. He hears her whimpering, again.

The doctor heads back downstairs, intent on leaving and then collapsing on his bed and sleeping. He needs sleep. He's almost falling asleep again.

"Oh… um, hello Hatori-san."

The dragon turns his head to the voice. There stands Tohru Honda. She smiles, and although it doesn't look as happy as it used to be, there's still a little twinge of light. It's refreshing.

Yuki's behind her. He looks the same as usual, the same as before. Ultimately, everyone knew that he wouldn't be _too_ affected by Kyou leaving. It might've a bit, because of Tohru and her close ties to the cat. But Tohru wasn't depressed (read: or at least, didn't show it) or anything, so the rat stayed the same.

"Dinner's almost ready. If you'd like, you can stay," says Tohru, polite as ever. Hatori politely declines.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I have things I need to take care of."

With a bow, a wave and a (read: cold) look from the rat, Hatori leaves Shigure's house. He needs to sleep.

On the drive home (if you could call it that) he can barely keep his eyes open. When he finally makes it there, he barely stumbles into his room and falls onto the bed with his clothes still on.

* * *

Hatori's still tired the next morning. He also has paperwork. Hatori hates paperwork. It's paper, and it's work; both relatively boring things. 

It isn't long before he can't bear to do anymore work. So he leaves his house to go and wander around the Sohma estate. The gardens are nice at this time of year.

After about a half hour, the dragon finds himself at the bamboo-barred window of Kyou's cage. He knows the cat is in there, and he knows he's not supposed to be there. He's not even aloud to talk to the cat when he gives him his check-up every couple of weeks. Oh well, Akito's not around.

"Kyou…?"

"What do you want?" That's a voice that sounds tired. It's dry from under-use and sounds more tired than that of his own voice. The dull red-haired teenager slithers off the ground to barely get his eyes just peering over the ledge. He lets his thin, pale arms slip through the bars to let spindly fingers dwindle on the cool stone wall.

"I don't know."

"You're not supposed to be here."

"I know."

Kyou lets out a laugh, but it turns to a dry cough. He never speaks. He doesn't need to. "I'm surprised. You disobeyed the _almighty_ god." He says the title like a mockery. "Akito always had you under his thumb."

Hatori scowls slightly, but he knows it's the truth.

"You should go," says the cat, what Hatori could see of his face disappearing behind the wall of his house (read: cage) again. His hands still remain in the sunshine though. Hatori just sort of stands there for a moment.

The doctor turns to leave. Kyou giggles slightly. Hatori stops.

"Not all puppets have strings, Ha-to-ri…"

Hatori shivers. The cat sounds like Akito.

And then he leaves.

* * *

"…ashes, ashes, we **all** fall down."

* * *

le argh. je suis DEAD. not only my fingers are falling off, but i feel slightly creeped out about writing kyou like that. he's like super-dooper out of character, yo. but that will ALL be explained le LATER. heehee. don't you just love me x 100 000 003? 

ehneeway, answers and junks too reviews. YAY.

i got an email from a friend, asking some questions. answers and stuff. yay.

_why was hatsuharu so angry?_

yay, finally this question came up. but i'm not gonna answer it. nya nya. just keep reading to find out, it'll come up later.

_why didn't kyou fight/run away?_

again, it'll come up later. HAHAHA.

_howabout the akito spoiler? is that in effect here?_

that's a good question. i haven't really decided yet. it depends what the reviewers want. (i personally like the god better as a boy. XD) so, if you have a preference, say so, and i'll make him/her female or male.

and thank you haruko sohma and animeanna22 for reviewing. -hands out pocky and pickles-

as for pairings, i think i will go with hatori/kyou, because i've only seen it done as one-shot lemons before (not that i mind. hehe). as for kagura-nee over there, i don't think she'll end up with kyou. but she'll definately end up with someone. i'll probably do a yukiru, because i like that pairing. if not, a haru/yuki. bleerf, but that messes up my plans. and maybe shigure/aya, or maybe a shigure/akito. bleerf. i also like shoujo-ai, so if you want a uo/hana or a kagura/hana or something off the beaten path like that, say so.

ohmuffin, i'm rambling again.

(newsflash: you've been doing that for the last couple paragraphs.)

eek. crap.

muffins to all who review this time.

lots of love,

archy


	3. needles

All fall down

(by archy the cockroach)

Rating: T

Warnings: Slash, violence, sadisim, a little bit of language, spoilers

A.N. i've decided akito's a man. for story purposes.

* * *

**02: Akito**

The robe slides off of his shoulder, revealing pale white skin that used to be tan (read: healthy and alive).

Now all that's left afterseven lonely monthsis the empty shell that is another small, white, useless bird for Akito to toy with. The god thought that Kyou would be harder to break, but no, no, Kyou was easier than Yuki. Because under that tough as nails, grotesque, mutant cover-up, the shield that the cat had created for himself, was a weak little human, just begging to be crushed and dominated entirely.

"You're disgusting."

Kyou doesn't flinch like he used to. He doesn't make a move out of the god's lap, he just sits there, un-moving, his frail body balanced by the thin hands of Akito. His eyes are empty, lacking the gleam they used to hold. A light (read: twisted) smile falls upon the god's face, and he lets one of his lithe hands brush the cat's pale cheek.

"Don't you… agree?"

The fleeting touch turns into a scratch, ruthless nails digging into the cat's cheek, dragging downwards until deep cuts are made and blood is already beginning to rise from the wound. Kyou only blinks. He's used to this treatment (read: mistreatment).

Akito moves his hand, dragging it across Kyou's lower lip, letting only the smallest bit of crimson from his long nails drip between the cracked lips. "Tell me, dolly," the god growls out.

Despite the blood dribbling down his face, Kyou nods.

Akito grits his teeth, and pushes Kyou out of his lap and onto the floor. Kyou drops, eyes open and looking entirely serene and shattered. Like a misplaced or forgotten toy, he lies there on the floor, even as the god stands and leaves, he stays there.

Like a good kitty.

* * *

"You didn't hurt him too much this time, did you?" 

Hatori sits on the floor, across from Akito, who seems more distant than usual. Akito closes his eyes, letting his long lashes brush his cheeks. The god rises, gliding over to Hatori and sitting down again. He cups the doctor's face in his hands.

"Not like last time."

Hatori sighed in relief. Last time was a little too much to bear, even for the doctor. And he'd seen Akito's previous work (read: torture) on the cat.

Hatori had merely gone to check up on the cat, as Akito (grinning wildly) had suggested. The doctor had found the cat, lying on the floor of his home (read: cell), eyes open and hands lying in front of him. Hatori had walked forward, wondering if the cat was dead. No, not dead. Empty. Utterly empty.

There was blood. There was definitely lots of blood. Hatori, being a doctor, didn't have a problem with the crimson that was splattered throughout the room. He did, however, have quite a problem with _what _had been done to create such a mess.

Hatori had knelt down before the cat, intending to pick him up and put him on his meager excuse for a bed. The doctor had just barely gotten his hand under the cat's arm. That's when he noticed the pins.

Sticking through every single one of the cat's digits was a silver needle, pressed through the pad of the cat's finger and straight through to the nail. Hatori could literally feel the blood draining out of his face. He felt something warm drizzling down his hand from where he held the cat. Even through the darkness of the room, Hatori could make out the red stain on a white kimono.

Hatori had managed to get the cat's arms out of the robe, so he could inspect the wound on the cat's side. Oddly, scrawled into the cat's flesh were the words; "All of which makes me anxious.

Sometimes, unbearably so."

* * *

Hatori doesn't understand Akito. Before, the god wanted nothing to do with the cat. He didn't want to see him. Now, Akito has become obsessed with the cat, loving to have the cat around. Even though the cat has lost all of his personality (read: life), Akito finds the cat intriguing. 

Hatori enters the cage. It's dark. It's always dark. All that exist in the chamber is the bamboo window, a bed, and the little mess that is the cat. The monster. But is it _he_ who's really the monster?

"Kyou? Are you awake."

The cat doesn't make a move to pick himself up. So, Hatori moves over to the cat himself. Just as the dragon had expected, a fresh wound makes itself apparent in the moonlight. It looks mild. All Hatori figures he has to do is apply some disinfectant and bandage it. At least that's easier than pulling pins out of fingers for an hour.

Hatori picks the cat up and pulls the limp figure onto the bed. Upon the weight, however light it was, the bed creaked loudly. The cat only blinks.

Hatori sighs. "I'm going to get something to help your face. I'll be… right back, okay?"

* * *

Hatori returns as promised. 

Kyou's not lying down anymore, he doesn't look dead. He's sitting on his bed, leaning onto the wall.

"Hi…" mutters the cat, and then ducks his head into his knees, which are pulled to his chest. It's like he's ashamed to be able to speak.

"Hello," says Hatori, utterly shocked to hear the cat talk. Kyou doesn't even talk to the god, so says Akito. But, his surprise doesn't show on his face. "Glad to see you moving. How do you feel?"

Kyou gives a bitter smile; empty eyes making him look eerie. "How do you think?" His voice expresses more than anything. Sorrow and anger seeps into his words.

Hatori sighs, and puts his bag down onto the floor next to the bed, before kneeling on one leg across from Kyou.

"In this lighting, I can't get a good look at your face, but the cuts don't appear to be infected."

"Oh."

"But I'll put some disinfectant on them, just incase."

Eventually, Hatori does get done bandaging the cat. Kyou is looking at his hands, looking at his bandaged fingers, trying to sit still, thinking of a way to thank the doctor. Now, the cat has long bandages awkwardly put on his face. He gives Hatori a smile that tries to be sincere, but fails miserably.

"I'm sorry," the cat says, miserably.

"It's alright."

Hatori leaves.


	4. domestic fucker family

All fall down

(by archy the cockroach)

Warnings: Slash, language, extreme sadism & torture in this particular chapter

A/N: note that this story began in december, on kyou's birthday. he was imprisoned upon that date, instead of graduation. because gods are too busy to wait. i increased the rating, due to the torture in this particular chapter. and, aside from that, i had far too much fun with linebreaks in this chapter.

* * *

**03: Kisa**

Kisa isn't a stupid girl. She can recognize screams of anger when she hears them.

It's New Year's, but nobody is celebrating. Hiro sits beside her, ignoring the yelling coming from Akito's room. Hatori is nearly asleep on the table, slumped over with his hair falling onto his arms. Yuki's there too, staring blankly at his lap. Well, the entire zodiac is, of course, at the zodiac banquet. But everyone is too unnerved to say anything. Even Ayame is quiet for once.

There's a loud thump from Akito's room, and the door is pushed open at once, slamming against the sheath that hides it behind the walls. In the dark, Kisa can barely make out a mess of orange and (read: blood) red eyes.

Akito has been hurting Kyou again.

Occasionally, when Kisa is in the main house, she can hear Akito yelling and the sound of weight hitting the floor. It scares her, because she knows that Akito could easily be doing that to _her_ instead of Kyou.

But it frightens her more that Kyou never makes a sound.

Akito makes his way to the head of the table, and slowly sits down, not noticing the slight spatter of blood that sits on his cheek. Shigure blinks at him, holding himself back, attempting not to say anything. Momiji fidgets in his seat, holding back tears. Haru is stone cold beside him.

"Sorry for my… tardiness," says Akito, words dripping off of his lips like poison. His fingers move like snakes onto the table. Akito is thinner than usual, Kisa notes. But she doesn't say anything. "I had a little problem… dealing with the kitty… cat."

Kagura bites her lip. She wants to scream at Akito, she wants to throw things at him, and make him go away. It's her fairy tale, after all. There are no monsters in fairy tales.

Hatori's still sleeping.

After a few seconds of (read: painful) silence, Hatsuharu stands up, and moves to leave.

"Where do you think you're going, my dearest ox?" asks the god, letting the words slowly make their way out. Haru stops. He's shaking, Kisa notices. But when he turns, he doesn't look sad. He's not crying.

"I'm leaving, what does it look like?"

Akito laughs like Haru is a child, and he places his elbow on the table and leans on his arm. His laughter is like nails, scraping down Kisa's neck. "Oh, you really are a stupid cow, aren't you?" says Akito, pure hatred finding its way into his words. "The old story is true. Sit back down, Hatsuharu-kun, or I'll have to _make_ you sit down."

"See, Akito!" says Haru, slowly letting himself fall into the darkness that was Black Haru. "You're an outright creator. That's all you do! Make things. You form barriers, make rules, you _make_ everybody do everything because you're too incomplete to do it for your own fucking self. You're a waste of air, fuck off."

Haru turns to leave yet again. Akito scrapes his nails against the table, gritting his teeth and ready to lash out.

"You take one more step, Haru, and I will see to it that someone pays for your indiscretion. Whether it be you or _others_-" (read: the kitty that i love to play with so much) "-who suffer from your stupidity."

Yuki looks at Haru wearily. Haru lets out an exasperated sigh, and takes his place back at the table.

Hatori still sleeps.

For the rest of the night, the tension was thick enough to touch at the zodiac banquet.

* * *

"The silly ox didn't listen, did he, silly kitty?" 

Kyou stares down the sharp point, directly above his eye. His wrists have already been slit by the god, and he can feel the warmth flowing out of his veins and onto the tatami below him. He's afraid, but it doesn't show on his porcelain-doll face. This is the first time he's felt (read: anything) afraid in months.

Thirteen months in the cage.

What a lucky thirteen it is.

"He took another step. He should have just stayed standing instead of coming back to the table," says the god, straddling the cat's stomach, keeping the cat pinned to the floor. As if Kyou would fight back. Kyou's too weak.

"And now, since I'm sick! Sick, sick siiiiick, of gazing into your disgusting, demonic eyes, I think I'll have to take them out!" The god grins wildly, eyes wide and piercing, and at this single moment, Kyou can see the darkness, sickness, the loneliness and insanity echoing out of Akito's irises.

And at that single moment, Kyou can see his former self reflecting in those same eyes.

And Kyou smiles with sympathy and kindness as Akito pushes the nail into his open optic.

* * *

Kisa opens the door at exactly the wrong moment. 

"Akito-sama? You called… for…"

Her words die in her throat as she witnesses Akito screw the nail into Kyou's open eye. Akito recoils at his own display of (read: self-righteous) brutality, pulls his head into his knees, and hugs himself for fear that his pounding brain might fall out of his mouth.

He doesn't even notice Kisa, who's standing at the door, staring at Kyou.

Kyou can only barely feel pain. He's only half conscious, but he can make out a frightened little girl's voice at the door. He turns his head, towards the door, red hair falling over his working eye. Dark, rouge-coloured tear-tracks run down the side of his face. Kisa covers her mouth upon viewing the morbidity full-fledged.

Kyou mouths 'Hatori'.

Kisa leaves (read: flees) without a second glance.

* * *

Hatori has fallen asleep again. Kisa is quite noisy, when she enters his house, sobbing and crying jumbled words, trying to explain. Hatori only wakes up when Kisa falls against his chair, seeking some sort of comfort. Seeing what she did scares her more than anything, more than those horror movies that Haru used to watch or those monsters Momiji used to tell her about. 

This is real.

This is happening.

She doesn't understand what could make a person want to do that to another person. Kisa is so afraid. Even a half-asleep Hatori can determine that.

"Kisa-chan, what's wrong?" he says, slowly trying to re-configure his brain. Kisa sobs out something he can't quite understand, but he makes out the words 'Akito-sama' and 'nail' and immediately registers something in his head.

He should probably go find Kyou.

* * *

Arms like spiders, he crawls his way down the hall, too weak to stand, but too strong to stay down. Orange hair he fists, dragging the injured kitten along with him, a crimson trail behind him. 

He's going to show Haru

exactly  


what he meant by suffering.

* * *

Something tells Haru not to open the door, not to take another step. Momiji rolls his eyes, watching Haru from the table. "Just open the door, Haa-kun!" Momiji tries to keep up his playfulness, since Haru has no emotions left. That's why Momiji tries to spend as much time with Haru as he possibly can. That's why they're at the main house, sitting in the tea room, Momiji forcing cheerful conversation. Momiji loves his mask. "It's not the boogey man, silly." 

Unfortunately, Haru's met with something much worse.

A shuddering, dark man crouches before the door, a barely breathing, bleeding boy sprawled before him. Haru opens his mouth to (read: SCREAM) say something, but Akito is on him in an instant, hand clutching at the ox's shirt. Akito pulls himself up, face in Haru's face, and giggles; "…See what you made me do?"

With his foot, he kicks Kyou over, uncaringly, and Haru finds a one-eyed cat staring up at him.

"Oops, his other eye must have fallen out on the way here! I need to be _much_ more careful."

Haru turns, and vomits.

* * *

Hatori arrives mere minutes later. 

Momiji is hysterical, shouting something at the top of his lungs, waving his arms about and trying to make sense of things. Akito is grinning, hanging over Haru who's shuddering in the corner.

But the thing that bothers Hatori the most is Kyou.

Kyou's still alive, still bleeding, still breathing. Upon seeing his doctor, with his last ounce of consciousness, he smiles, before drifting off into a mock-slumber.

And Hatori falls down, and just…

cries.


End file.
